CoreWeave Inc. exceeded first-quarter revenue expectations on Thursday, reporting sales of $2.08 billion as demand for artificial intelligence computing power fueled its cloud business. The Nvidia-backed company, a key player in the AI infrastructure space, also disclosed a revenue backlog of $99.4 billion, signaling strong future commitments from major clients.
The results, released after U.S. markets closed, come amid intense scrutiny of CoreWeave's ability to scale its operations. The company's shares had rallied sharply in 2026, according to earlier reports, raising expectations for its earnings report.
Net loss for the quarter widened to $740 million, compared with $315 million a year earlier, as operating expenses surged to $2.22 billion. Capital expenditures totaled $6.8 billion, down from $8.2 billion in the prior quarter but well above the $1.9 billion recorded a year ago, reflecting heavy investment in data center infrastructure.
Adjusted EBITDA rose to $1.16 billion from $606 million, but adjusted operating income fell to $21 million from $163 million, and the adjusted operating margin contracted to 1% from 17%. Interest costs climbed to $536 million, while total debt reached $24.9 billion at quarter-end.
CoreWeave's revenue backlog—a measure of future revenue locked in by customer contracts—jumped from $66.8 billion at the end of 2025. Key deals include a $21 billion cloud capacity agreement with Meta Platforms, a $6 billion contract with Jane Street, and a new partnership with Anthropic. The company also added 400 megawatts of contracted power, bringing its total to over 3.5 gigawatts, with active power exceeding 1 gigawatt.
CEO Michael Intrator called it the company's “strongest bookings quarter,” emphasizing CoreWeave’s position between AI models and silicon. The company aims to surpass 8 gigawatts of active power by 2030.
Shares traded little changed in after-hours action, as investors weighed robust demand against rising costs and debt. Risks include potential delays in customer deployments, shifts in AI demand, or higher financing expenses that could slow the conversion of the backlog into revenue.
CoreWeave plans to provide forward-looking guidance during its earnings call, with the market focused on how much of the $99.4 billion backlog can be monetized without further margin compression or debt accumulation.
